Mighty Manitoba

One Ontarian's love letter to his adopted home province.

I like to call my home province Ontario Onterrific.

Now I'm living in Manitoba, where people like to call Ontario Onterrible.

When I moved from Ontario to Manitoba, no one could understand why. It was for a girl, I explained. That seemed to temper the disbelief that I was moving to Winnipeg, home to some of Canada's coldest winters, biggest mosquitoes, and most dangerous streets.

But having lived in Ottawa, Toronto, and Waterloo, and having traveled to many parts of the world, I've been nicely surprised by my new home.

While the stock markets and housing prices have been down everywhere else, economic growth has been up in Manitoba. Housing prices are still affordable and jobs are still being created. It is a stable, steady, and simple economy.

Around here, people like a good deal. Electricity is cheap, with the bonus that the hydro is friendly to the environment. Not bad considering most other places are grappling with how to keep the lights on with nuclear, gas and coal.

And when it comes to all things green, Manitoba is rated on of the most energy efficient places in Canada. Lake Winnipeg is being cleaned up so that people can enjoy the beaches and the family cottages that line the shores of one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world. Plus the boreal forest is protected.

Winnipeg – now branding itself as the Heart of the Continent – has the population of a big city but it works like a small town. When people need help, the community is there for them. In the spring they listen to the weatherman and flood forecaster to prepare for the possible overflow of the banks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. Like soldiers in a reserve army, friends, neighbours and family members come together to build sand bag walls to hold back the water. Fortunately, most of Winnipeg is protected from the floods that happen from time to time by the $1 billion floodway, but it took all hands on deck this spring when the high water and large ice-sheets saturated land on the rural outskirts of the city. People took the flood this spring all in stride and overcame the challenge with a sense of pride.

This community spirit carries through into sports, where the locals cheer on the Goldeyes in baseball, the Blue Bombers in football and the Moose in hockey. There are even a few die hard fans that still hold on to the faint hope that the Jets will one day return.

Culturally, Winnipeg has its moments as a hotbed. The staples in the diet of any cultural connoisseur are the summer Folk Festival and Jazz Festival. Folklorama, an event that brings international music and food to Winnipeg, is the largest festival of its kind in the world and this year celebrated its 40th anniversary. And with music legends like Neil Young and Randy Bachman with roots in the community, there are also plenty of rock and roll fans. This year, Winnipeg hosted ACDC and the first Canadian Rock on the Range.

Add to that the city's designation as Canada's Cultural Capital for 2010, the same year as Manitoba Homecoming, when wayward Manitobans are invited to return home for a visit. The province is throwing its doors open.

Manitoba will only become more sophisticated, inclusive, and modern, while keeping its charm. The architecturally stunning Canadian Museum for Human Rights will rise up to take a prominent place along the shores of the Red River to be a prominent feature in Winnipeg's cityscape and a focal point for dialogue about human rights around the world.

The nomination of Premier Doer as Canada's Ambassador Designate to the United States will give Manitoba a spokesperson on the world stage. This builds on Manitoba's tradition of working beyond its borders, dating back 50 years, as the home to the Canadian NORAD operations that keep our continental skies safe.

As well, in 2010 Manitoba will host all of the Canada's provincial and territorial leaders for Council of the Federation. Given that Premier Doer has been in charge for 10 years, this will be an important event for the political landscape leading up to the next provincial election in 2011.

Onterrific is where I come from and the place I consider home, but I like the good things that I'm discovering here in Mighty Manitoba.